i have a 1986 toyota tercel wagon. it is a front wheel drive 5 speed manual transmission. the clutch has been going bad for a while. i drove it the other day and it was pretty good. then i parked it, and went back out about a half hour later, and now its stuck in gear. the last gear i had it in was 1st. but i think its stuck in 5th. you can push the clutch in and it will idle, but when you let out on the clutch it dogs down and dies like taking off in high gear. the shift looks and feels to be in neutral, but it isnt. i cant get it to go into any other gears, even while not running. somebody told me that the pressure plate is probably the problem, but another said that it couldnt be cause it wont change gears while not running. then somebody told me to take the shifter boot off and pull the shifter, and see about a plastic ball that could be on it. i pulled the boot and the shifter doesnt go straight into the trainny like he said it probably did. someone also told me that it might be the synchronizers, and then somebody else told me that it couldnt be because of not changing gears while not running. i really hope its the pressure plate, because i was gonna put a new clutch kit in it anyways. just wanted to know if anybody might be able to help me out on what it could possibly be. i could only find one place to get transmission parts for this old import, and i dont want to pull the trainny apart just yet. thanks for any info.

i have a 1986 toyota tercel wagon. it is a front wheel drive 5 speed manual transmission. the clutch has been going bad for a while. i drove it the other day and it was pretty good. then i parked it, and went back out about a half hour later, and now its stuck in gear. the last gear i had it in was 1st. but i think its stuck in 5th. you can push the clutch in and it will idle, but when you let out on the clutch it dogs down and dies like taking off in high gear. the shift looks and feels to be in neutral, but it isnt. i cant get it to go into any other gears, even while not running. somebody told me that the pressure plate is probably the problem, but another said that it couldnt be cause it wont change gears while not running. then somebody told me to take the shifter boot off and pull the shifter, and see about a plastic ball that could be on it. i pulled the boot and the shifter doesnt go straight into the trainny like he said it probably did. someone also told me that it might be the synchronizers, and then somebody else told me that it couldnt be because of not changing gears while not running. i really hope its the pressure plate, because i was gonna put a new clutch kit in it anyways. just wanted to know if anybody might be able to help me out on what it could possibly be. i could only find one place to get transmission parts for this old import, and i dont want to pull the trainny apart just yet. thanks for any info.

If the engine will run with the clutch pedal depressed, that tells you the clutch is working more or less as advertised. The dilemma you're describing sounds much more like a transaxle that is locked up internally, possibly jammed between two gears or simply has a higher gear selected and the linkage come off/apart not allowing it to shift to a lower gear or neutral.

As for the person who told you that the shifter goes straight into the transaxle, DO NOT under any circumstances take advice from them again. If for some reason you find the trans is locked up, you'll be time and money ahead to simply R&R the entire unit with a used one. Besides, if you can't readily identify what the current problem is, you have nowhere near the knowledge required to disassemble and repair the existing trans.

__________________Thanks for the pic, jedimario.

"Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, use that something to support their own existence."Frank Vincent Zappa, 1940-1993

well i can do lots of mechanics and i am very good at it, but ive never done any transmission work, other than a slave cylinder, and pull trainny and put back on. the guy that told me about the shifter going into transmition, didnt say transaxle. he said it is probably a top loader, and i checked and it aint. my other friend says he thinks the problem is in the transmission, stuck in gear or in between gears. he said to jack up the front end, and start it, and let out on the clutch, and if the tires turn its stuck in gear, and if they dont then its stuck in between gears. i know i couldnt possibly tear apart the trainny myself, i got a friend that can do it, but if he shows me how once, ten i could do it all by myself if ever needed. i really hope its just a linkage, but my luck its internal. i just need to get all the info i can before i start trying to figure out what it is. the last gear i had it in was 1st, and it seems like its stuck in 5th. i dont understand that. but i will look into it more as soon as my friends garage is ready to pull another one in. thanks for any help.

well i can do lots of mechanics and i am very good at it, but ive never done any transmission work, other than a slave cylinder, and pull trainny and put back on. the guy that told me about the shifter going into transmition, didnt say transaxle. he said it is probably a top loader, and i checked and it aint. my other friend says he thinks the problem is in the transmission, stuck in gear or in between gears. he said to jack up the front end, and start it, and let out on the clutch, and if the tires turn its stuck in gear, and if they dont then its stuck in between gears. i know i couldnt possibly tear apart the trainny myself, i got a friend that can do it, but if he shows me how once, ten i could do it all by myself if ever needed. i really hope its just a linkage, but my luck its internal. i just need to get all the info i can before i start trying to figure out what it is. the last gear i had it in was 1st, and it seems like its stuck in 5th. i dont understand that. but i will look into it more as soon as my friends garage is ready to pull another one in. thanks for any help.

Yeah, a lot of very good mechanics come to this forum to ask for basic troubleshooting advice. I do it all the time.

__________________Thanks for the pic, jedimario.

"Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, use that something to support their own existence."Frank Vincent Zappa, 1940-1993